The School Council has been active at at Elizabeth RC Primary School for the past eight years. It meets once every two weeks for a half hour meeting and is where children have the opportunity to air their views about the school, to discuss any problems and suggest changes.

The School Council consists of a boy and girl member for every class in Key Stage 1 and in Key Stage 2, so there are 24 members. They are democratically elected by their class mates. The School Council has a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and a Secretary who are elected by the School Council.

The School Councillors' job is to listen to the views of their class mates and bring any concerns or suggestions to the meetings. Members discuss these and try to come up with solutions. Each School Council member then reports back to their class after every meeting so everyone knows what they have been doing.

Meeting Minutes

Thurs 14 July 2011

1. Absences:  1J girl, 4M boy, 6J, 6L girl

2. Minutes of the last meeting read and accepted as an accurate record. The cooks promise to have more sauces available at lunchtime has been kept. The cook also said she would be happy for a couple of children each day to help her prepare lunch, to see what the kitchen staff do.

3. The School Council were thanked for their efforts this year and their reliability in coming to meetings.

4. The School Council discussed what they would like to see next year’s School Council work on. These ideas were suggested;

• Conduct a survey of favourite end of year outings.
• To encourage more use of lap tops within the classroom.
• To encourage more art and creative work within the classroom.
• To develop workshops where children make cards etc which can be sold to raise money.
• To encourage the reintroduction of playground friends.
• For School Council members to be examples of considerate behaviour at school.
• For each class to have a list of birthdays displayed so that all children’s birthday’s can be commemorated.
• To continue to develop ideas to improve play times.

Thurs 23 June 2011

1. Absences: Y6, Y5 boys – at a cricket tournament

2. Minutes of the last meeting read and accepted as an accurate record.

3. The School Council discussed football on the Key Stage playground and Mr Purcell’s suggestion that each class would have a couple of balls for their class. This would stop the problem of children bringing in their own tennis balls and then saying “It’s my ball, you can’t play”. Members had these suggestions.

• They liked the idea of two balls for each class.
• It was suggested that there could be a boys’ ball and a girls’ ball. However most members disagreed pointing out that sometimes boys and girls like playing the same game together.
• It was suggested that each class had an equipment box with balls, skipping ropes etc. Each class would be responsible for it and have to make sure that equipment was not lost or damaged.
• It was felt that football took over the playground, causing accidents etc. Perhaps there could be areas where football isn’t allowed and only one year group should be allowed to play each day.

4. Two members Kenzie and Giuliano went to see the school cook to receive feedback on the letter sent to her about school dinners. They reported back that the cook agreed that dinners could be better but that she was told what to cook by the local authority, following healthy schools guidelines. She said that if she was allowed to choose what to cook school dinners would be tastier. She did say, however, that she would try to put more sauces out.

Thurs 12 May 2011

1. Absences: 2O girl (ill) Y4 (trip) Y6 (SATs)

2. Minutes of the last meeting read and accepted as an accurate record.

3. The School Council looked again at the results of the survey on school dinners and discussed what action they could take. It was suggested that a persuasive letter could be sent to the cook explaining the results of the survey and suggesting ways school dinners could be improved. It was agreed that the letter should be polite and should start by praising the cook, for example pointing out that the vast majority of children thought that school dinners were healthy. Members then worked together to draft a letter.

Thurs 20 Jan 2011

1. Absences: none

2. Minutes of the last meeting read and accepted as an accurate record.

3. The School Council decided to split into four sub-committees to work an action plan to achieve each of the four aims of the School Council decided at the previous meeting.

• Amber, Elizabeth, Flynn, Demi, Jake, Ella and Jude Worked on the idea to develop workshops to make cards and gifts for special occasions, which could be sold to raise money for a charity or the school. They decided that they would need to carry out a survey to find out what children would be willing to buy and what any money raised should go to.
• Sasha, Jessica, Bassah, Amanda and Joel Worked on the idea of developing a reward system to be used throughout the school. They discussed different types of rewards and what would merit each type of reward. They also thought about what would merit a visit to Mr Purcell for congratulations.
• Lauren, Daniel, Ajani, Tilly and Bobby looked at improving school dinners. They realized that healthy school guidelines would need to be followed and that they would have to carry out some kind of survey to get opinions of all children in the school.
• Kenzie, Samuel, Yana, Jonathan, Guiliano, Kayleen and Julia worked on the idea to have different sorts of competitions rather than just colouring in or designing a poster. Again they realized the need to carry out some kind of survey to find out what types of competitions would really interest a lot of children.

4. Members were reminded that there should be a School Council display in their classroom, displaying minutes of the last meeting.

Thurs 16 Dec 2010

1. Absences: 1G boy, 4M girl, 6J boy

2. Minutes of the last meeting read and accepted as an accurate record.

3. The School Council discussed what they would like to achieve this year and came up with the following ideas.

• The School Council would like to organise workshops making cards and gifts for special occasions such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter etc. These would be sold and the money raised would go to Charity or to buy something for the school. What the money would go to would be decided by all the children in the school.
• The School Council would like to develop a reward system that would be used throughout the school. They also thought that children should see Mr Purcell if they have done something particularly good, (work or behaviour wise), not just when they are in trouble.
• The School Council thinks that the standard of school dinners could be improved, bearing in mind that there are certain rules concerning healthy eating that need to be followed.
• The School thinks that all the competitions in the school are quite similar, (colouring in, designing a poster writing a poem). They would like to develop ideas for different types of competitions, whether for Anti-Bullying, Walk on Wednesday, Road Safety etc.

4. School members were reminded that there should be a School Council display in a prominent position in the classroom, which should include a caption explaining the role of school council members, minutes of the last meeting and a suggestion box or book.

Thurs 25 Nov 2010

• Absences: 2O boy, 4M, 6J

• Minutes of the last meeting read and accepted as an accurate record.

• The anti-bullying poster competition was judged. The Year 1 and 2 winner was decided by Y5 and Y 6 members. They chose Hannah in 2A. The Y3 and Y4 winner was decided by Y1 and Y2 members. They chose Iveta in 4M. The Y5 and Y6 winner was decided by Y3 and Y4 members. They chose Lauren in 6J. The prize of a £10 book token will be given out in an assembly next week.

Thurs 04 Nov 2010:

1. Absences: 2A boy, 6L girl, 6J girl.

2. Minutes of the last meeting read and accepted as an accurate record.

3. Members discussed Anti-Bullying Week, 15^th -19^th November and what the School Council thought should take place during this week. The following ideas were suggested:

• An Anti-Bullying display to be in each classroom
• The School Council to do an assembly
• The School Council to visit each class to do a mini assembly
• An Anti-Bullying poster competition
• Each child in the school to sign an Anti-Bullying pledge
• Each Year group assigned an Anti-Bullying activity appropriate to their age, for example writing a poem, a story or a play, making up a dance or a song etc
• Conducting an Anti-Bullying survey in the school

4. Members were reminded to report back to their classes.

Thurs 30 Sept 2010:

1. Absences: 6L 6J 3Kboy 4M

2. Minutes of the last meeting read and accepted as an accurate record.

3. The election of chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary was postponed until the next meeting due to the absence of Y6 members.

4. Members shared some of the concerns that had been raised so far this term by the classmates. Several children had understood the message that they represented their classmates by saying that someone had told them their concern.

These were the issues raised;

• New climbing wall
• New climbing frame in KS1 playground
• More balls for playtimes
• The goals are too small
• More grass area
• More space in classrooms
• More books in the library
• Children to have their own set of colouring pencils/pens provided by the school
• Why isn’t the new building finished?

5. Children were reminded to report to their class about the meeting.

Thurs 16 Sept 2010:

1. Absences: 5G 6L 6J

2. New members were welcomed to the School Council and congratulated on their election to it.

3. The Role of the School Council and its members was explained. It was pointed out that they represent all the children in their class and are their spokesperson. They need to listen to their classmates’ concerns and ideas and bring them along to School Council meetings where they can be discussed and problems solved. They don’t just speak themselves but share their classmates’ opinions. Some of the achievements of previous School Councils were discussed, such as helping in events for Anti-Bullying Week, improvements to the playground, having more choice in end Of year outings.

4. The role of chairperson, vice-chair person and secretary were explained and members asked to consider whether they wanted to stand for these positions. It was pointed out that normally a Y5 or Y6 is more suitable for these roles. Elections for this executive committee would be held at the next meeting in two weeks time.

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